We have compared the performance of top mutual funds in the past and thought it would be interesting to see what happens in a bear market which began in September of 2015. Our last review was in February of 2015 when the bull market was in full swing. At that time the five year total performance of ETFS and Funds was comparable with the IBB up 284% and the largest specialized fund the Fidelity Select Biotechnology Portfolio (FBIOX) up 254%. The XBI also did well up 255% over five years. When biotech was hot up until the peak with IBB at $398 on July 20, 2015 all you needed to do in order to beat the market was buy two ETFS and one Mutual Fund. The sector then got rocked with a vicious sell-off in August and September followed by a recovery through December ending 2015 with an IBB at $341. A January meltdown ensued through February 11, the current low for 2016. Here is the 2016 performance of major funds and ETFS:

The IBB iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) is down 16.8% YTD and down 22.6% over one year.

The XBI SPDR S&P Biotech ETF is down 20.2% YTD and down 28.1% over one year.

The FBT First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund is down 15.6% YTD and 21.6% over one year.

The 3 Star Fidelity Select Biotechnology Portfolio (FBIOX) is down 22.7% YTD and down 30.8% over one year.

The XLV Healthcare SPDR ETF is down 1% YTD and down 4.2% over one year.

Larger healthcare and “health sciences” funds and ETFs such as the XLV and PRHSX have fared much better because they hold large cap drug stocks that pay dividends and are more diversified with med-tech, insurers, services and life science tools companies.

But most of these funds are also laggards and a few are much smaller than they were during the bubble days of 2015.

Here is the recent YTD and one year performance of seven leading life science, medtech and biotechnology mutual funds:

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About Raynovich Rod

Rod Raynovich is an experienced biotech investor and analyst with a focus in vaccines, tools, IVD’s and biopharmaceuticals. Prior to starting Raygent.com, he was a former technology transfer office at UCLA and he has held various executive positions in the biotech and medical device industry, including senior positions at NASDAQ listed biomedical companies. Prior to that Mr.Raynovich held management positions at Abbott, JNJ and Technicon.

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Rod Raynovich is the founder of Raygent Associates, a management consulting firm providing business development and strategic marketing services in the life science and medical device area. He publishes his thoughts and analysis on the biotech industry at www.raygent.com.